Snez
Senior Member
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- Tasmania, Australia
Vitamin A: the key to a tolerant immune system?
The following article by Michael Ash outlines the importance of Vit A on the gut and, consequently, the immune system. The availability of this vitamin is important, it cannot be made by the human body and is absorbed in the intestine.
These quotes are of particular interest-
"When you are deficient in vitamin A, you veer towards a type of effector T cell called TH17 and its production of IL-17inflammation pro-inflammatory cytokine, with propensity to causing autoimmune disease."
"Our diets have changed dramatically over time, and to try to compensate for what weve lost in fresh, farm grown produce and pastured dairy and meat, weve fortified our foods. But if people dont tolerate fortified milk, wheat and cerealswhich are common allergensand if they dont eat organ meats and are poor converters of carotene, they may well be deficient in vitamin A.[14] The more deficient in retinoic acid they are, the greater their risk of loss of immunological tolerance."
"....the conversion of carotenoids to vitamin A is not as efficient or perfect as weve been led to believe. They can be difficult to convert, and a recent study from Newcastle University in England found that as many as 50% of women studied were unable to efficiently convert carotenoids into vitamin Aand thus may be retinoic acid deficient."
For the full article-
http://www.nleducation.co.uk/resources/reviews/vitamin-a-the-key-to-a-tolerant-immune-system/
The following article by Michael Ash outlines the importance of Vit A on the gut and, consequently, the immune system. The availability of this vitamin is important, it cannot be made by the human body and is absorbed in the intestine.
These quotes are of particular interest-
"When you are deficient in vitamin A, you veer towards a type of effector T cell called TH17 and its production of IL-17inflammation pro-inflammatory cytokine, with propensity to causing autoimmune disease."
"Our diets have changed dramatically over time, and to try to compensate for what weve lost in fresh, farm grown produce and pastured dairy and meat, weve fortified our foods. But if people dont tolerate fortified milk, wheat and cerealswhich are common allergensand if they dont eat organ meats and are poor converters of carotene, they may well be deficient in vitamin A.[14] The more deficient in retinoic acid they are, the greater their risk of loss of immunological tolerance."
"....the conversion of carotenoids to vitamin A is not as efficient or perfect as weve been led to believe. They can be difficult to convert, and a recent study from Newcastle University in England found that as many as 50% of women studied were unable to efficiently convert carotenoids into vitamin Aand thus may be retinoic acid deficient."
For the full article-
http://www.nleducation.co.uk/resources/reviews/vitamin-a-the-key-to-a-tolerant-immune-system/
